Books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Book SynopsisThe eagerly-awaited return to the acclaimed Morland Dynasty series, and the 100th novel by Cynthia Harrod-EaglesEngland, 1936The reign of Edward VIII has begun, but danger for the monarchy already looms on the horizon. At home in Morland Place, Polly Morland feels alone and abandoned, with her brother summoned to France by his old employer. James soon finds himself travelling to Russia, whereas Polly will voyage on the Queen Mary with New York - and a long-lost love - her destination. Soon the family are scattered to the four winds, from Hollywood to war-torn Spain. Working for the Air Ministry on new fighter planes, Jack fears that his children are not taking the increasingly tense situation in Europe seriously enough. The nation is divided over which is the greater thread: Communist Russia, or Fascist Germany. As the storms of war gather, they will threaten to overwhelm the Morlands and destroy all that they have worked for...

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Book Synopsis'Ingenious' Daily Mail'A truly outstanding series' Booklist'No CCTV cameras, no overlooking houses, no passing traffic or pedestrians. That means no witnesses.'Bill Slider begins a nightmarish investigation when an unidentifiable victim is found in the no man's land beneath London's A40 flyover. Slider doesn't have much to go on. The victim, a smartly dressed businessman, has no ID in his pockets and no one has reported him missing. When the autopsy reveals old injuries and faded scars cover the man's body, the mystery only deepens. If he wants answers, Slider knows he must go into London's darkest corners.Trade ReviewFor detection fans demanding quality and heart as well as ingenious plots * * Daily Mail * *Harrod-Eagles writes terrific crime novels, meshing fully realized characters with multilevel plot lines * * Library Journal * *A truly outstanding series * * Booklist * *Harrod-Eagles is never less than expert in presenting suspect * * Kirkus Reviews * *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery Detective Inspector Bill Slider is back at work with a thumping headache, courtesy of the last villain he apprehended. But he is minus Atherton, a friend and colleague, who''s still recovering from his injuries.Slider was hoping for a quiet week, but a murder at a night club plunges him into the underworld of entertainment to question table-dancers, prostitutes, pimps and cabinet ministers. And when it appears that this murder could be linked to another unsolved case, Slider is left with more questions than ever.What with Atherton''s slow recovery and his replacement''s unhealthy interest in Slider, the DI has enough to fuel his headache for the foreseeable future. But the old grey matter won''t be denied; doggedly and with a whimper, Slider starts to unravel the truth... Praise for the Bill Slider series:Trade ReviewHarrod-Eagles unleashes an effective, dark-edged tale and serves up a truly nasty villain into the bargain... [She] gracefully builds upon her habitually elegant procedural stylings to deliver taut psychological suspense. * Publishers Weekly *The books work so well because the author manages to infuse them with a warmth and wit that lingers on after the last page is turned. * Yorkshire Post *This is an excellent, solidly professional police story: well-written, with well-drawn characters and a neatly dovetailed plot. * Evening Standard *There are plenty of suspects for old Bill Slider and his team, and a whole fishmonger's full of red herrings. Harrod-Eagles is a wonderfully assured, compelling plotter, and her hero is as appealing as ever. * Yorkshire Post *The charm oozed by Bill, who is a normal person with personal problems struggling to survive in a cruel world through humour and wit...a unique novel that gives readers a glimpse of an England rarely seen in this sub-genre. -- HARRIET KLAUSNEREach plot twist, including one devious turn that throws suspicion on a former member of Slider's murder squad, hangs on the testimony of complicated characters who are among the author's finest stock. Nobody is exactly what he or she seems: not the victim, not even Slider, who has reason to examine his own * New York Times Book Review *Confident and lucid * Seattle Times *Harrod-Eagles delivers snappy prose and a ripping tour through the British music world. * Mostly Murder *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMESA Bill Slider Mystery Detective Inspector Bill Slider - middle-class, middle-aged, and middle-of-the-road - is never going to make it to Scotland Yard. He''s spent most of his working life at Shepherd''s Bush nick, and stopped minding long ago about being passed over for promotion. But then the unidentifiable body of a woman turns up on his patch, and suddenly Slider and his partner Atherton have a chance to prove themselves. As they wrestle with an investigation, in which the only clues are a priceless Stradivarius and a giant tin of olive oil, everyone - most of all Slider himself - is wondering whether this latest crisis will make or break the steely-eyed detective. Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are real discoveries'' Daily Mail''Sharp, witty and well-plotted'' TimeTrade ReviewSlider and his creator are real discoveries * Daily Mail *An outstanding series * New York Times *Sharp, witty and well-plotted * Times *Harrod-Eagles and her detective hero form a class act. The style is fast, funny and furious - the plotting crisply devious * Irish Times *It's criminal how good Harrod-Eagles is when she puts old Bill to work * Manchester Evening News *For detection fans demanding quality and heart a well as ingenious plots * Daily Mail *Witty, entertaining, and ingenious * Yorkshire Post *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery With his on-off lover Joanna away with work, Detective Inspector Bill Slider almost welcomes a call-out to the BBC TV Centre at White City. Roger Greatrex, celebrated music critic and opera aficionado, appears to have topped himself - only minutes before he was due to appear live on a quiz show. But there are signs that the body has been interfered with, and Slider suspects murder. One fellow panellist is known to have quarrelled violently with Greatrex. two members of the production team have motives, and nobody in the building has a proper alibi. Slider is under pressure to make an arrest, and all his instincts are at odds with the evidence. But a dangerous killer is on the loose, and could kill again... Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are real discoveries'' DailTrade ReviewHarrod-Eagles unleashes an effective, dark-edged tale and serves up a truly nasty villain into the bargain... [She] gracefully builds upon her habitually elegant procedural stylings to deliver taut psychological suspense. * Publishers Weekly *There are plenty of suspects for old Bill Slider and his team, and a whole fishmonger's full of red herrings. Harrod-Eagles is a wonderfully assured, compelling plotter, and her hero is as appealing as ever. * Yorkshire Post *Each plot twist, including one devious turn that throws suspicion on a former member of Slider's murder squad, hangs on the testimony of complicated characters who are among the author's finest stock. Nobody is exactly what he or she seems: not the victim, not even Slider, who has reason to examine his own * New York Times Book Review *Harrod-Eagles delivers snappy prose and a ripping tour through the British music world. * Mostly Murder *

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Book SynopsisBrilliant, a definite page turner. They combine real historical events with fascinating fictional characters.The twenty-three volumes of the Morland Dynasty series has been completely repackaged in the most elegant style, using contemporaneous artwork for each period. This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury...The Morland Dynasty is entertainment of the most addictive kind.

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery It looks as though Inspector Bill Slider has a serial killer on his hands: ''the Park Killer'', as the media so innovatively label him, attacks his victims in London''s public parks, and when Chattie Cornfield is murdered while out jogging, the pattern fits.But as Slider and Atherton investigate, it is Chattie''s life rather than the killer''s that poses questions. There''s a startling anomaly between her ritzy lifestyle and her modest income. There are friends who loved her, a sister who hated her, men who thought they knew her, and a mysterious package that poses more questions than it answers.Who was the real Chattie? Where was she on the last day of her life? And was it love, hate or avarice that drove the hooded figure to kill her?Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are reaTrade ReviewHarrod-Eagles unleashes an effective, dark-edged tale and serves up a truly nasty villain into the bargain... [She] gracefully builds upon her habitually elegant procedural stylings to deliver taut psychological suspense. * Publishers Weekly *The books work so well because the author manages to infuse them with a warmth and wit that lingers on after the last page is turned. * Yorkshire Post *Delightful dialogue and carefully observed details makes Harrod-Eagles's 10th Bill Slider Mystery a winner. * Publishers Weekly *This is an excellent, solidly professional police story: well-written, with well-drawn characters and a neatly dovetailed plot. * Evening Standard *Witty wordsmith that she is, Harrod-Eagles knows exactly how to get under her detective's all-too-sensitive skin -- Marilyn Stasio * New York Times Book Review *There are plenty of suspects for old Bill Slider and his team, and a whole fishmonger's full of red herrings. Harrod-Eagles is a wonderfully assured, compelling plotter, and her hero is as appealing as ever. * Yorkshire Post *The charm oozed by Bill, who is a normal person with personal problems struggling to survive in a cruel world through humour and wit...a unique novel that gives readers a glimpse of an England rarely seen in this sub-genre. -- HARRIET KLAUSNERA fabulous who-done-it -- HARRIET KLAUSNEREach plot twist, including one devious turn that throws suspicion on a former member of Slider's murder squad, hangs on the testimony of complicated characters who are among the author's finest stock. Nobody is exactly what he or she seems: not the victim, not even Slider, who has reason to examine his own * New York Times Book Review *Confident and lucid * Seattle Times *Harrod-Eagles delivers snappy prose and a ripping tour through the British music world. * Mostly Murder *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery There''s a changing of the guard at Shepherd''s Bush police station. But unfortunately for Bill Slider, incoming Detective Superintendent Barrington has something to prove and no desire to make friends with his subordinates. Luckily - or rather, unluckily - Slider has work to be getting on with, and soon the discovery of a dismembered corpse plunges him into west London''s seedy underworld. But something''s not sitting right. Why did Barrington have an axe to grind with the old Detective Superintendent? The more Slider learns, the less he likes it, and the less he can believe that his job is ever going to win him friends in high places ... Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are real discoveries'' Daily Mail''Sharp, witty and well-plotted'' Trade ReviewUnerring characterization, droll copper dialogue and a gritty London setting, Harrod-Eagles mines fresh pleasures from standard procedural resources. * Publishers Weekly *Harrod-Eagles and her detective hero form a class act. The style is fast, funny and furious, the plotting crisply devious, and the denouement perversely wayward. And even then, the final line in the novel contains an extra little gasp-inducing twist. Lovely stuff. * Irish Times *Being able to write with pacy humour is rare. Constructing good thrillers with realistic characters is also rare. Being able to combine the two, and to do it successfully, is nearly unique. -- DAVID TUMELTYThe mystery is a good one, its investigation is workmanlike, and the writing is assured and even elegant. * Sunday Telegraph *A witty, intricate puzzle * Publishers Weekly *There is a briskness and unpretentiousness to Harrod-Eagles' writing... (she) keeps the plot moving with verve and wit and the whole thing is suitably entertaining. * Million *A lively and witty writer. Integrating romance and suspense with the same artful grace she achieved in her first mystery, the author is well on her way to an outstanding series. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery A call-out to a murder saves Detective Inspector Bill Slider from having to finish his canteen lunch, but it presents him with the problem of a dead conductor. In life Sir Stefan Radek was seriously famous and terminally unpleasant, but neither of these facts seems reason enough to gun him down.But as Slider delves into the megastar''s private life he finds there''s no shortage of suspects, as everyone seems tastelessly glad that Radek is dead. Lies, lovers past and present, and a hotbed of squabbles and financial shenanigans complicate the already tangled case. And with Slider''s lost love, Joanna, a witness to the crime, his own life''s jigsaw puzzle seems suddenly as complex as tracking down a most unlikely murderer... Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are real discoveries'Trade ReviewHarrod-Eagles unleashes an effective, dark-edged tale and serves up a truly nasty villain into the bargain... [She] gracefully builds upon her habitually elegant procedural stylings to deliver taut psychological suspense. * Publishers Weekly *Her books are witty, entertaining, and ingenious * Yorkshire Post *Skilful plotting and vivid characterization make Grave Music a compelling mystery. A generous and confident writer, Grave Music rates a standing ovation. * THE DROOD REVIEW OF MYSTERY *There are plenty of suspects for old Bill Slider and his team, and a whole fishmonger's full of red herrings. Harrod-Eagles is a wonderfully assured, compelling plotter, and her hero is as appealing as ever. * Yorkshire Post *Each plot twist, including one devious turn that throws suspicion on a former member of Slider's murder squad, hangs on the testimony of complicated characters who are among the author's finest stock. Nobody is exactly what he or she seems: not the victim, not even Slider, who has reason to examine his own * New York Times Book Review *Harrod-Eagles delivers snappy prose and a ripping tour through the British music world. * Mostly Murder *

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Book SynopsisDoes blood run thicker than ink?When one of London''s best-known literary agents is found dead in strange circumstances, seemingly having fallen from his office window, DCI Slider is under pressure to confirm a case of accidental death. But when the evidence points to murder, the team find themselves uncovering some decidedly scandalous secrets.Every lead seems to result in more questions, and as Slider delves deeper into the publishing world it''s up to him to sort fact from fiction.

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Book Synopsis''An outstanding series'' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWA Bill Slider Mystery The lot of the working copper is getting harder: new regulations, regular rousting by the top brass, a budget tighter than a Victoria corset and a DC who thinks he''s in a John Le Carré novel makes it a trying time for Detective inspector Bill Slider.Then when a noted womanizer dies in mysterious fire in a sleazy motel and the whole of his murky past comes to light, Slider begins to question whether this was suicide... or murder.And that''s not the only thing Slider is questioning. As soon as he''s solved the motel mystery, Bill is going to have to put his own house in order... Praise for the Bill Slider series:''Slider and his creator are real discoveries'' Daily Mail''Sharp, witty and well-plotted'' Times''Harrod-Eagles and her detective hero form Trade ReviewUnerring characterization, droll copper dialogue and a gritty London setting, Harrod-Eagles mines fresh pleasures from standard procedural resources. * Publishers Weekly *A lively and witty writer. Integrating romance and suspense with the same artful grace she achieved in her first mystery, the author is well on her way to an outstanding series. * New York Times Book Review *The mystery is a good one, its investigation is workmanlike, and the writing is assured and even elegant. * Sunday Telegraph *There is a briskness and unpretentiousness to Harrod-Eagles' writing... (she) keeps the plot moving with verve and wit and the whole thing is suitably entertaining. * Million *

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Book SynopsisThe brand new series, perfect for fans of DOWNTON ABBEY, from the author of the hugely successful MORLAND DYNASTY novelsBehind the doors of the magnificent Ashmore Castle, secrets are waiting to be uncovered . . .1901. When the Earl of Stainton dies in a tragic hunting accident, Giles, the eldest son of the noble Tallant family, must step forward to replace him as the head of the family. But Giles has avoided the Castle and his stifling relatives for years, deciding instead to forge his own path away from the spotlight. Now, he must put aside his ambitions and honour his duty to the family.With their world upended, the Tallants and their servants struggle to find their place in the house - and society - once again. And Giles realises that, along with the title and the castle, he''s also inherited his father''s significant financial troubles that threaten the security of his entire family.In Kensington, Kitty Bayfield, the painf

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Book Synopsis'Ingenious plots' Daily Mail'A truly outstanding series' Booklist'Harrod-Eagles writes terrific crime novels, meshing fully realized characters with multilevel plot lines' Library Journal'You can't upset anyone looking into old bones.'DCI Bill Slider's out of favour in the force - for accusing a senior Met officer of covering up an underage sex ring. As a punishment, he's given a cold case to keep him busy: some old bones to rake through, found buried in a back garden, from a murder that happened two decades ago, and with most of the principal players already dead. Surely Bill Slider can't unearth anything new or shocking with these tired old bones?Trade ReviewIngenious plots * * Daily Mail * *Harrod-Eagles writes terrific crime novels, meshing fully realized characters with multilevel plot lines * * Library Journal * *A truly outstanding series * * Booklist * *Harrod-Eagles is never less than expert in presenting suspects * * Kirkus Reviews * *

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Book SynopsisThe second novel in the Ashmore Castle series, perfect for fans of DOWNTON ABBEY, from the author of the hugely successful MORLAND DYNASTY novelsBehind the doors of the magnificent Ashmore Castle, secrets are waiting to be uncovered . . .  England, 1903. Giles, the new Earl of Stainton, is struggling to bring his family's estate back to order after the death of his father, and he has little time to spare for his young pregnant wife, Kitty. She lives in fear of her mother-in-law, who won't give up the reins of the household. Will she ever truly be mistress of Ashmore Castle? Perhaps if her coming child is a boy, that will change the balance of power...   Meanwhile, the Earl's younger sisters are having their first taste of romance, but not necessarily with the right people. Richard is pursuing his forbidden relationship with Molly, while Nina makes a lively new friend who leads her straight into trouble and pu

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Book SynopsisGONE TOMORROW: Inspector Bill Slider is called to cope with a disfigured corpse grotesquely left in a children''s playground. His enquiries plunge him into the shadow world behind the fashionable facade of Shepherd''s Bush, among the victims of the Welfare State and the crime barons who prey on them; a world where no one is what they seem, and lying to the police is second nature. Slider''s thankless task is to convince the witnesses, against all available evidence, that honesty really is the best policy. And with his lover Joanna away, fate seems suddenly determined to strew his private life with temptations . . .DEAR DEPARTED: It looks as though Inspector Bill Slider has a serial killer on his patch: ''The Park Killer'', as the media so innovatively label him, attacks his victims in London''s public parks, and when Chattie Cornfield is murder while out jogging, the pattern fits. But as Slider and Atherton investigate, it is Chattie''s life, rather than the killer''s, that poseTrade ReviewHarrod-Eagles is a master of the telling phrase or the catchy put-down . . . Reading her is a joy * IRISH TIMES *Sharp, witty and well-plotted * The TIMES *It's criminal how good Harrod-Eagles is when she puts old Bill to work * MANCHESTER EVENING Post *

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Book SynopsisThe marriage of Eleanor Courteney and Robert Morland heralded the founding of the great Morland dynasty. Now Paul, their great grandson is caught up in the conflict of kings and sees, while his niece Nanette, as maid-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, becomes caught up in intrigue at court.

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Book SynopsisBill Slider and his team investigate the death of a prominent literary agent in this intriguing contemporary mystery.When one of London''s best-known literary agents is found dead in strange circumstances, having fallen headlong from his office window, DCI Slider is under pressure from the Borough Commander to confirm a case of accidental death. But when the evidence points to murder, Slider and his team find themselves uncovering some decidedly scandalous secrets in the suave and successful Ed Wiseman''s past. An embittered ex-wife. A discarded mistress. A frustrated would-be author. A disgruntled former employee. Many had reason to hold a grudge against the late lamented literary agent. But who would feel strongly enough to kill him? Any leads in the investigation seem only to result in more questions - not least of which is the identity of the elusive Calliope Hunt. Who is she - and what is her connection to the train of events?

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Book SynopsisThe murder of a personal fitness trainer draws DCI Bill Slider and his team into a baffling investigation where nothing is as it first appears. Fitness trainer Erik Lingoss is found dead in his west London flat, his head smashed by one of his own dumbbells. His heartlessly-dumped girlfriend, blood on her clothes and hands, is the prime suspect. She had means, opportunity, and motive.But is the case as clear-cut as it seems? Handsome Erik Lingoss had clients in high places; and he seemed to engender powerful emotions. If it was a crime of passion, there was plenty of that to go round: love strong as death, jealousy cruel as the grave.Who did he let in to his flat that evening? Where is his missing mobile phone? Why is seven hundred pounds in cash stuffed under his pillow? The deeper Slider and his team dig, the clearer it becomes there''s far more to this case than meets the eye.

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Book SynopsisHarrod-Eagles graces her narrative with a quiet wit that makes the book a pleasure to read Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewAnother sterling entry in a truly outstanding series Booklist Starred ReviewDCI Bill Slider tackles the coldest of cold cases in this absorbing mystery. A young couple discover human remains buried in the garden of their new house: could this be the resting place of 14-year-old Amanda Knight, who disappeared from the same garden two decades before, and was never seen again?The problem comes almost as a relief to DCI Slider, still suffering from the fallout of his previous case. He is not popular with the Powers That Be, and his immediate boss, Detective Superintendent Porson, reckons that at least this little puzzle will keep Slider out of trouble. After all, with a murder twenty years in the past, this is the coldest of cold cases. Most of the suspects and principal players are now dead t

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Book Synopsis1816: Napoleon has at last been defeateed, but victory brings no peace to the English.The cost of war strikes deep into the country- there is a raging inflation, discharged soldiers join the ranks of the unemployed, wages tumble and the bread price soars- and hungry men are easily stirred to protest.Amid this turbulence, Heloise and James stand guard over Morland Place- for its spirit as much as its fortunes- when a tragic accident strikes at the very heart of the family, taking one person on whom they all depend. On top of this, a devastating scandal brings the Morland name into the glare of public notoriety, so that Sophie and Rosamund are forced to learn the difference between real love and its enticing but dangerous illusion.

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Book Synopsis1820: the landscape of England is undergoing sweeping change as the country pioneers the steam-driven machine age.The Morlands, too, face change: Cousin Africa returns from St Helena to startle society with her unconventional ideas; Lucy brings her sons home from their Grand Tour, brimming with ideas for their future. In Manchester, Sophie and Jasper meet fierce oppostion to their plans for re-housing the factory hands; while in London, Rosamund enters a bizarre agreement with her husband Marcus, with bitter consequences.And at Morland Place, James and Heloise watch their two sons approaching manhood. Benedict delights equally in love and locomotives, while Nicholas, the heir develops a taste for more unusual pleasures- and an impatience to claim his inheritance.

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Book Synopsis1501: the turbulence of Henry VIII''s reign brings passion and pain to the Morlands as they achieve ever greater wealth and prestige.Paul, great-grandsom of Elanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illigitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death.Paul''s niece, Nanette, becomes a maid-in-waiting to Anne Bolyen, and at the court of Henry VIII she becomes embroiled in the King''s bitter feud with Rome.Through birth and death, love and hatred, triumph and heartbreak, the Morlands continue proudly to claim their place amongst England''s aristocracy.

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Book Synopsis1558: Elizabeth I is on the throne, though still challenged by Mary, and her Protestant faith threatens the Catholic Morland family.The reign of Elizabeth I means that the Morlands must seek new spheres of influence to restore their fortunes. John, heir to Morland Place, rides north to wed the daughter of Black Will Percy, the Borders cattle lord, and learns that the way to win her heart is through blood and battle. His gentle sister, Lettice, has also travelled north to marry the ruthless Scottish baron, Lord Robert Hamilton, and in the treacherous court of Mary, Queen of Scots, she has to learn the bleak and bitter lessons of survival...

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Book Synopsis1630: after long years of peace the reign of Charles I brings brutal civil war to England.The clash between King and Parliament is echoed at Morland Place when Richard brings home a Puritan bride while his brother, Kit, joins Prince Rupert and the Royalist cavalry, leaving their father Edmund desperately trying to steer a middle course between the fighting factions.As the war grinds on, bitterness and disillusion replace the early fervour, and the schisms between husband and wife, father and son, grow deeper. Edmund struggles grimly through it all in an attempt to keep the Morland fortune intact, but he is thwarted by the estrangement between his sons and then alienated from his beloved wife, Mary.

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Book Synopsis1659: Cromwell''s protectorate is drawing to a close, and the restoration of the monarchy can only improve the fortunes of the Morland family.The years of civil war and their aftermath have left Morland Place in dire straits, but with the return of the King, Ralph Morland believes he can rebuild the family estates. For his beautiful and ambitious cousin, Annunciata, the Restoration means a journey to London - one that leads to the amours and intrigues of Charles''s court and to the unlocking of her mysterious past.A new and kinder age is dawning - a time for healing wounds - but more uncertainty, conflict and sorrow await both Ralph and Annunciata before they can find peace and forgiveness...

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Book SynopsisThe sixth book in the epic Morland Dynasty series

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Book Synopsis1689: the Resoration enabled the Morland family to restore their own fortune, but now the Jacobite rebellion brings another threat to their security.Annuciata Morland, fiercely loyal to the Stuart cause, follows her beloved king, James II, into exile. She leaves her gentle grandson, Matt, to oversee Morland Place in her absence. Without her wise presence, Matt finds himself in an arranged marriage to India Neville and at the mercy of a woman as heartless as she is beautiful. After a lonely and sheltered life he lurches between the exquisite pain of love and the torment of deep despair.When James III - the Chevalier - returns to claim the Stuart throne, the Morlands are reunited in one country. Death and defeat threaten them, but their loves and loyalty prove stronger than kingly ambitions...

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Book Synopsis1720: political intrigue besets the kingdom as the Stuarts try to claim the throne occupied by the Hanoverians and the Morlands have to use all their wiles to keep their fortunes intact.Jeremy Morland, sole heir to his father''s will, has no option but to marry to cold-hearted Lady Mary to secure Hanoverian protection and safeguard his inheritance. Then the rebellion of ''45 and the bloody massacre at Culloden thrust his daughter Jemima into the spotlight as the saviour of the family. Independent, single-minded, and a rare beauty, Jemima is a capable caretaker of the Morland heritage. Although Morland Place and its lands suffer from the excesses of her dissolute husband, Jemima''s quiet courage earns her an abiding love and loyalty...

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Book Synopsis1772: Althought George III reigns over a peaceful England, his colonies in the Americas are claiming independence and a tide of revolutionary fervour is gripping France.Allen Morland and his beloved wife Jemimas work unstintingly to bring Morland Palace back to its former glory. Their seven children often bring them heartache, but they are sustained by their love of each other.The Mordland adventurer, Charles, emingrates to Maryland in persuit of the heiress Eugenie, but finds himself in the midst of the American claim for indepdence. Meanwhile, Henry, the family''s bastard offshoot, pursues pleasure relentlessly but pennilessly until he finds a niche for himself in the fashionable Parisian salons, whilst outside revolution creeps closer...

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Book Synopsis1788: the bloody revolution in France causes upheaval in the Morland family.Henri-Marie Fitzjames Stuart, bastard offshoot of the Morland family, strives to protect his daughter, Heloise, his mistress, Marie-France, and their son Morland. To this end, he binds Heloise to a loveless marriage with a Revolutionary, and allies himself with the great Danton. But in the bloodbath of the guillotine and the fall of Danton, Henri-Marie loses his head and Heloise flees to England.She is welcomed with open arms by the family, and in Yorkshire Jemima proudly witnesses three marriages amongst her turbulent brood.At least three may be an heir to Morland Place, but the seeds of disaster have already been sown.

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Book Synopsis1795: the shadow of Bonaparte has fallen across Europe and touches each member of the far-flung Morland family.As the century draws to a close, Jemima Morland wearily ackowledges that her life is also nearing its end, but she has scant peace as her unpredictable children behave ever more incomprehensibly: James''s marriage to Mary Ann is closer to falling apart; Lucy''s marriage de convenance is in the balance - her affair with Lieutenant Watson is an open scandal.Mary bears a daughter on board her husband''s ship during the battle of the Nile; and William supports a mistress whose marriage cannot be dissolved.Jemima''s death appears to unite the family but, as ever with the Morlands, the future holds more peril than hope.

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Book SynopsisThe thirteenth book in the ever-popular Morland Dynasty series

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Book Synopsis1815: Napoleon''s escape from Elba and the preparations for battle entangle the Morland family in a web of romance and heartbreak.The Allied Army is gathering in Flanders, and where the army is, the fashionable world must go- so London society hastens to Brussels to enjoy the most exhilarating Season ever.For Heloise it brings a renewed acquaintance with her former suitor, to Duc de Veslne-d''Estienne; while Rosamund must finally come to terms with her feelings for her cousin Marcus; and for Sophie, a meeting with an enigmatic French major could well alter her future.But as romance flourishes in a warlike atmosphere, the looming shadow of battle only makes the dancers whirl more feverishly. And when the Army marches out to face the might of the French at Waterloo, one question is in every heart: which of them will not come back?

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Book Synopsis1831: as England emerges from the post war depression, the country is changing, and the birth pains of the Reform Act bring it to the brink of revolution.The violent times breed violent acts, both outside and inside the Morland family. Sophie''s life is shattered by a hideous crime. Rosamund learns that achieving her dreams brings as much pain as pleasure. Heloise, mourning her beloved James, lets control of Morland Place fall into chaos- Benedict has to flee his home and makes a life amongst the railway pioneers, while Nicholas now has the freedom to indulge the dark side of his nature.And amongst them all stalks the deadly, invisible threat of cholera.

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Book Synopsis1833: the industrial age is sweeping through England and the Stephensons are planning the greatest engineering scheme ever undertaken- a railway line from Liverpool to London.At Morland Place, Nicholas had hoped that his brother Benedict, had been banished forever, but railway fever has brought Benedict back to Yorkshire as an engineer on the Leeds & Selby line. It is a lonely life and he fears he will never be wealthy enough to marry his new love, Miss Fleetham. Nicholas fears that Benedict is not only a threat to his inheritance but to Morland Place itself, as plans to bring the railway to York will desecrate the estate.The conflict between the brothers mirrors the nation''s battle between the old and new, but the Morland feud seems certain to end in tragedy and no-one the victor.

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Book SynopsisIn 1851 the fortunes of the Morland family are more buoyant than they have been for years. Morland Place is recovering under Benjamin''s steady hands - happy at last with Sibella. Charlotte, now Duchess of Southport, is shortly to give birth to hersecond child and on the point of opening her modern hospital for the poor. Cavendish''s engagement to the ethereally beautiful but slightly silly Miss Phipps causes a stir in the drawing rooms of Mayfair and his wedding causes his family some misgivings. Then the storms in Europe spill in to Britain when the army is forced to defend Turkey against the Tsar. Within weeks Cavendish is in the Crimea and disappears in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Another moving and beautifully portrayed episode in the riveting Morland saga.

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Book SynopsisBenedict Morland''s comfortable life is overset when an old enemy''s dying wish leaves him guardian of an orphaned boy. No-one, including his wife Sibella, can understand why Benedict accepts Lennox Mynott into his household and, amid growing hostility at Morland Place, he takes the boy to America, to join his daughter Mary at Twelvetrees Plantation. Here, Benedict, as well as Lennox, fall in love with the Southern way of life, just at the moment when bitter civil war is about to destroy it forever.

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Book SynopsisIn the last years of the nineteenth century the Morlands'' fortunes are changing for the better, as Henrietta and Jerome find a true home at Morland Place, and Teddy ploughs his profits into restoring it to its former glory. But the reverses and cruelties of the Boer War and the death of Queen Victoria shake the foundations of a confident nation. The accession of King Edward seems to mark the end of the old, familiar England. Old certainties are being questioned, everything is changing, and the young generation of Morlands faces a new world, full of wonders but full of dangers.

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Book SynopsisFreed from her miserable marriage by widowhood, Henrietta is at last able to marry her beloved Jerome Compton, but his divorced state means that they have to make their home away from Yorkshire. Settling in London Henrietta finds she takes to urban life with great enjoyment, as does her daughter Lizzie. Soon their home is full of visitors from the best of the city''s artistic and scientific circles, and she also makes contact with her cousin Lady Venetia - now a qualified doctor and married at long last to ''Beauty'' Haselmere. Venetia''s marriage has redeemed her reputation and they find themselves guests at Sandringham and Hatfield. Healthy children are born to both women and it seems as though the comfortable tenor of their lives will never be disturbed again, but clouds are gathering on the horizon and when the deluge comes one of them is forced out of society. Yet it proves more of a homecoming than an exile.Another absorbing piece of English history, deftly told w

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Book SynopsisThe forthcoming marriage of Venetia, eldest daughter of the Duke of Southport, and ''Beauty'' Winchmore is the talk of London society, and a match which has the full support of Venetia''s parents. But just weeks before the wedding Venetia cries off - unable to accept that her husband-to-be will forbid her to study medicine. And within weeks of her shameful behaviour her father is dead and she is ostracised from her family, left with a tiny allowance to carry on with the ''cause'' and try to qualify as a doctor. Meanwhile at Morland Place George''s new wife is whittling away at his fortune during the worst agricultural recession of the century. His sister, Henrietta, apparently safely married off to the Reverend Fortescue, has realised her marriage is a hollow pretence of conjugal bliss and falls heavily in love with a local squire - a passion which seems destined to be unfulfilled. Another wonderful piece of fictionalised history which brings period and place to thr

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Book SynopsisGeorge Morland, newly master of Morland Place, embarks on a grand improvement and expansion of the estate. His sister Henrietta, eager to be both good and useful, marries the scholarly rector, Mr Fortescue. And in London, their cousin Lady Venetia Fleetwood, moved by the medical horrors of the Franco-Prussian war, sets out to become a doctor.But the agricultural slump threatens Morland Place with ruin; the medical world rejects Venetia with contempt; and Mr Fortescue proves to be not what he seems. The Morlands have to come to terms with hard reality, and find their happiness in other, unexpected places.

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Book SynopsisORCHESTRATED DEATHMiddle-class, middle-aged and, according to his partner, menopausal, Detective Inspector Bill Slider is never going to make it to the Yard. Passed over for promotion again, the last thing he needs in his life, or on his patch, is an unidentifiable, naked female corpse.A priceless Stradivarius and a giant tin of olive oil are the only clues in an investigation that takes the steely-eyed, furry-headed detective all the way from the exotic backstreets of Shepherd''s Bush to far-flung Birmingham.DEATH WATCHWhen a noted womaniser dies in mysterious circumstances in a sleazy motel and the whole of his murky past comes to light, DI Bill Slider begins to question more than whether the game is worth the candle. Right is right, and indivisible. As soon as he''s solved the motel mystery, and found out what the Neary boys and Gorgeous George are up to, Slider''s going to have to start putting his own house in orders ...NECROCHIPDetective SuperinTrade ReviewSlider and his creator are real discoveries * Daily Mail *Experience shines through ... wit and humour as well as a suitably devious plot. * Oxford Mail *A class act. The style is fast, funny, furious, the plotting crisply devious ... Lovely stuff. * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisEdwardian England is a country at the peak of its power; a kingdom of peace, prosperity and progress. As Jessie and Violet enjoy their coming-out in the glittering Season of 1908, their thoughts are of pleasure, dancing and falling in love.For the Morlands things seem set fair: new business ventures expand their influence and wealth; there are weddings, babies in the nursery, careers for the boys now reaching manhood. It is an exciting age, with new technologies - motor cars, telephones, radio, aeroplanes - extending man''s control over the natural world.But under the appearance of permanence, a different reality is stirring. Socialism, the suffrage movement, the constitutional crisis, all call forth ever more dissent and anger. Increasingly violent protests and strikes disturb the peace; war with Germany looms ever closer. With the King''s death, it begins to seem that the safe Edwardian world was only a dream, from which the wakening will be hard indeed.

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